Private Feasts
by Amethyst Jackson
Summary: A little good-natured, H/Hr, Halloween fluff. Enjoy.


Happy Halloween. :D

*****

Private Feasts

I sighed and walked past the Great Hall, deciding to go up to the common room instead. Of course, I should have been at the Halloween feast, but…God, how tedious it would have been. Oh, yes, it would have been so much _fun,_ Ron with his little toy, Parvati, and Harry, drooling all over _Ginny_. Good lord, what did Harry see in her?

Of course, I wanted Harry to be happy. He deserved all the happiness he could get. But damnit, why couldn't _I_ be the one to make him happy?

"Hermione?" I heard from behind me, that so-soft innocent voice that I've known for years and still can't get over.

"What?" I asked, somewhat rudely as I turned around to face him.

He looked hurt, almost. "Why aren't you at the feast?"

"Not in the mood," I mumbled, feeling desperately uncomfortable.

"Oh. But -- it's Halloween! It doesn't matter if you're miserable or happy, they're both appropriate moods."

I smiled. "What about the antisocial mood?"

"Still works."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I just really…really want to be alone right now."

"Are you sure? You look lonely to me."

"Don't worry about me. Go have fun with Ginny and Ron," I said, with only the merest trace of bitterness in my voice.

"You really don't want company?"

"Harry - you ought to know by now that when you've got a girlfriend, she comes first," I said with a good-natured grin, hoping my act was convincing.

Harry smiled. "Ginny's got friends. You're all alone, and you're my best friend. I think you come first right now."

"Really, Harry, that's not necessary."

"Do you not want me around?"

"No, it's not that, it's just --"

"Then I'll stay with you."

I sighed, exasperated. "I just don't want you to feel like you have to."

Harry shook his head at me, taking my arm. "Sure you don't want to go to the feast?"

"I'm sure," I said, greatly enjoying the fact that being with Harry and away from the feast meant that Ginny would not be in the middle.

"Want to go down to the kitchens? You really ought to eat _something._"

"Oh, no, I don't want to bother the elves."

"They love to wait on people. Why not let them?"

"Because. I can do things for myself; I don't need to be waited on."

He smiled but said nothing, simply leading me down to the kitchens. 

We arrived in what seemed like no time at all to find a flurry of house-elves. They appeared to be running behind on the desserts and were, almost literally, flying about the kitchens.

"Harry Potter, sir, and Miss Hermione! Dobby would like to stay and talk, but is having much work to do!"

Dobby zipped off, leaving a pan of pumpkin pie, dots of whipped cream on top, in Harry's hands. 

"Well, it looks like we got something to eat after all," he commented, "Now all we need is a couple of forks…"

Luckily, an elf passed at that moment, sticking two forks into the pie. Harry grinned, handing me one of the forks. "Shall we?"

Happily, I dug into the pie, getting a nice bit of whipped cream along with it. After a minute or so of quiet eating, I heard Harry chuckle.

"What is it?" I asked, looking up.

"It's just, you've got whipped cream on your face," he said with a surprisingly tender undertone as he reached out to wipe it away from the side of my lip.

I blushed, then looked down to hide the blush, and realized I couldn't hide. Harry would see right through me.

"Hermione," he said quietly, lifting up my chin with his index finger. I braced myself for the moment, the moment I had known would come but never intended to face.

Just as I attempted to meet his eyes, I felt two lips brush against mine, and the aforementioned eyes widened considerably.

He pulled away.

"H-harry!" I sputtered, "W-what…what did you just do?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I think that's a little obvious."

"I - I mean…what about Ginny?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ginny. There's always Ginny. We can't break up, thanks to Ron. He'd kill me if I ever did. And there was no point in making Ginny miserable…until now."

"You mean…you want…?"

He framed my face with his hands. "Hermione, I'm in love with you."

All of the air left my lungs as I replied, "I love you, too."

We both smiled, and shared another kiss. It didn't matter that there was a whole family of Weasleys to disappoint with our discovery, or that we would have to face them later that night. We still had a pumpkin pie to eat, and there were several closets on the way back to Gryffindor Tower. For that moment, we were happy.

A/N: Little sloppy, a little sappy, and not very Halloween-ey… Ah, well, I've got nothing to follow that. Never mind.


End file.
